Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned China on Tuesday against supplying lethal weapons to Russia, as leaders of both countries were meeting in Moscow for talks.

“We haven’t seen any proof that China is delivering lethal weapons to Russia but we have seen some signs that this has been a request from Russia, and that this is an issue that is considered in Beijing by the Chinese authorities,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.

“China should not provide lethal aid to Russia, that would be to support an illegal war.”

— Reuters

One of the big questions to emerge from China’s President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow this week is the degree to which it could help Russia both on the battlefield, and off it — and what price it could extract for doing so.

It’s no secret that Russia would like China to help it out while it flounders in an economic and military quagmire brought about by its invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

International sanctions have restricted or cut off Moscow’s access to numerous Western markets, while the ongoing war in Ukraine shows all the signs of turning into a bloody stalemate that could, if it loses, cause seismic political change in Moscow.

While he’s in Moscow, President Xi and President Vladimir Putin have been discussing the war in Ukraine and China’s peace plan, according to the Kremlin’s spokesman. Unofficially, however, analysts say the presidents are also likely to discuss ways for China to help Russia without it risking being hit with Western sanctions itself.

For many close watchers of Russia and China’s deepening relationship over the past decade, the big question then is this: What could China want in return for helping Moscow?

Read here to find out more: Nothing comes for free: What China hopes to gain in return for helping Russia

— Holly Ellyatt

The head of Ukraine’s armed forces said they have repelled Russian attempts to advance into the center of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, where fighting continues to be intense.

“Assault groups of the enemy try to advance from the outskirts to the center of the city, but the Defense Forces work and destroy them 24/7,” the Commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Telegram on Tuesday.

Both Russian and Ukrainian military officials have acknowledged the difficulty of fighting in and around Bakhmut in Donetsk, where battles have been raging for seven months. Russian forces are believed to almost encircle the city to the north, east and south but Ukraine recently vowed to continue defending the city.

Syrskyi said Tuesday that “intensive combat operations” were taking place along the entire front line in eastern Ukraine but that “the defense of Bakhmut continues.” There, he said, Russian equipment, manpower and warehouses “are constantly being destroyed.”

Russia sees the capture of Bakhmut as a stepping stone to other regional targets such as Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Given the extreme difficulty Russian units and mercenary fighters in the Wagner Group have had in fighting in and around Bakhmut alone, Russia’s ability (or appetite) to maintain a wider offensive in the region looks uncertain.

Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said Monday that “Russian forces made marginal gains in and around Bakhmut amid a reported increase in the tempo of Russian operations around Avdiivka,” a town south of Bakhmut and north of Donetsk city. 

“Russian forces likely made additional gains in southwestern and northern Bakhmut,” the ISW noted. Nonetheless, the ISW assessed “that the overall Russian spring offensive is likely approaching culmination, and Russian forces may be intensifying efforts to make even marginal gains before they lose the initiative in Ukraine.”

“It remains possible that Russian advances could prompt Ukraine to withdraw from Bakhmut and/or Avdiivka although neither appears likely at this time,” the ISW noted.

— Holly Ellyatt

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Tuesday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, broadcaster NHK said.

Representing one of the rich democracies in the Group of Seven, Kishida will voice support and solidarity with Ukraine following the invasion by Russian forces more than a year ago, the foreign ministry said in a statement. 

Kishida will convey “his respect for the courage and perseverance of the Ukrainian people standing up to defend their homeland,” it said. 

Japan will host a G7 summit in Hiroshima in May, and Kishida has previously said that the summit should demonstrate a strong will to uphold international order and rule of law in response to the Ukraine war.

NHK showed footage of Kishida talking to officials as he stood next to a train. He had arrived in Kyiv after boarding a train in the Polish border town of Przemysl.

Kishida will also hold talks with his Polish counterpart before returning to Japan on Thursday, the ministry said.

— Reuters

The Kremlin said Tuesday Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping had discussed a peace plan China had proposed for Ukraine, and had held a “thorough” exchange of views during talks.

“Obviously, a very thorough exchange of views took place, a serious conversation in the informal part,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, Russian state news agency TASS reported. 

“I will not give any assessments now, we will wait for the press statements of the two heads of state,” he said, referring to a joint statement that’s expected to be agreed and released by the leaders after further talks on Tuesday.

According to Peskov, Putin and Xi Jinping discussed the 12-point peace plan for Ukraine that China proposed last month, calling for a de-escalation of armed aggression in the country.

Western nations have viewed China’s peace plan, and the fact it appears to want a role as a mediator in the conflict, with suspicion given Beijing’s alignment with Russia on an ideological level and refusal to condemn the invasion of Ukraine.

— Holly Ellyatt

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that he’s invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to visit China this year, Russian news agencies reported Tuesday.

“I yesterday invited President Putin to pay a visit to China this year at a convenient time for him, as this year China will host the third international forum under the Belt and Road Initiative. President Putin took part in the previous two forums,” Xi said, in comments reported by Russian state news agency Tass.

Xi also invited Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, with whom he held talks on Tuesday morning, to visit China as soon as possible, news agency RIA Novosti reported. Mishustin reportedly told Xi earlier today that he was grateful for “the great personal attention that you pay to the development of friendship and partnership between Russia and China.”

Xi is expected to hold further talks with Putin on Tuesday afternoon, with the leaders expected to sign a joint statement on deepening their strategic cooperation, and possibly other deals designed to extend their economic ties.

— Holly Ellyatt

It’s the second day of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Moscow. Xi and his host, Russian President Vladimir Putin, are expected to hold more talks today and to sign a number of bilateral agreements.

The presidents reportedly held talks for at least four hours on Monday. Deepening strategic cooperation and the war in Ukraine, and finding a peaceful solution to the conflict, are on the official agenda for discussions.

Analysts will be watching closely for statements and any deals that could be signed today to gauge the degree of cooperation and closeness that the leaders have forged during this meeting.

Before the summit, Putin’s assistant, Yuri Ushakov, said Putin and Xi would make a joint statement on their “comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation entering a new era,” and then the leaders would also sign a “joint statement on the plan for the development of key areas of Russian-Chinese economic cooperation up to 2030.”

“In addition to these two documents, there are many more documents in completely different areas of cooperation – over 10 documents, which are in varying degrees of readiness and will be signed, as they say, on the sidelines of the visit,” Ushakov said, according to a report by Russia state news agency Tass.

Ukraine has been noticeably tight-lipped about the Sino-Russian summit ahead of a rumored virtual meeting between Xi and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

— Holly Ellyatt

Japan’s foreign ministry confirmed that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is visiting Ukraine.

“As the G-7 [chair], Prime Minister Kishida will directly convey our solidarity and unwavering support for Ukraine,” a statement from the ministry said.

Kishida will visit Poland on Wednesday after his trip and return to Japan on Thursday, the ministry said.

Japan’s prime minister left India after meeting his counterpart there, Narendra Modi. The two leaders discussed stronger ties between their countries — both of them democracies — in the face of rising assertiveness from China in the Indo-Pacific region.

Last month, Ukraine’s ambassador to Japan told CNBC he was optimistic Kishida would visit Ukraine before hosting the G-7 Summit in Hiroshima in May.

– Jihye Lee

The U.K. held a meeting with more than 40 nations to discuss ways to provide extra support for war crimes investigations in Ukraine, according to a British readout.

The meeting was hosted by U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and the Netherlands Minister for Justice and Security Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius.

Ahead of the meeting, the U.K. proposed funding to offer mental health care for witnesses of war crimes, send U.K. experts to train International Criminal Court investigators and help those ICC workers gather evidence of potential crimes.

The meeting follows ICC’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over potential crimes in Ukraine.

— Amanda Macias

White House national security spokesman John Kirby called Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s relationship an alliance based on shared global interests as opposed to true friendship.

“It’s a marriage of convenience rather than of affection,” Kirby said of Putin and Xi.

Xi dined with Putin at the Kremlin on Monday as part of a three-day visit to Moscow. Beijing has yet to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but has not sent Russia military support, either.

Asked whether the two countries see one another on equal footing, Kirby said: “In terms of that relationship, they truly are their genuine partner.”

— Emma Kinery

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the European Union and United States for fresh arms packages, as the Ukrainian military tries to repel a fierce Russian onslaught in the eastern part of the country.

He said a 2 billion euro EU plan to bolster Ukraine’s ammunition stores will help with “both immediate supply and production of ammunition,” according to an NBC translation of his Telegram post.

Zelenskyy also noted that a $350 million U.S. aid package includes “everything that is really necessary to support our soldiers” in Ukraine.

— Jacob Pramuk

The Wagner Group said that its forces control nearly 70% of Bakhmut and will continue to fight until all of the city is captured.

The Russian mercenary group also said that Ukrainian forces were preparing to launch a “large-scale offensive.”

“At the end of March-beginning of April the enemy plans to launch a large-scale offensive and deliver flank cut-off strikes in order to cut off Wagner PMC units from the main forces of the Russian Armed Forces,” Wagner said on its official Telegram channel, according to an NBC News translation.

In a separate letter published to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin warned that Ukraine’s counter-offensive could lead to “negative consequences” for Russia.

— Amanda Macias

Russian President Vladimir Putin has met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Moscow Monday with both leaders exchanging pleasantries ahead of talks on Ukraine and extending cooperation between the nations.

As the two leaders met for an informal meeting before talks begin behind closed doors, Putin called Xi his “dear friend” as he welcomed him to Russia. He also praised China’s growth under Xi’s leadership, saying Russia was “slightly envious” of China’s swift development, in comments reported by Reuters.

Putin said China had taken a “balanced approach” to the international situation and said the leaders would discuss recent suggestions by China to find a peaceful solution to the war in Ukraine.

For his part, President Xi responded that Putin was also his “dear friend” and said he was pleased to be in Moscow for talks.

—  Holly Ellyatt

Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping were ongoing after four hours, Russian state media said, according to an NBC News translation.

The discussions are part of Xi’s three-day state visit to Russia. The leaders were expected to talk about strengthening economic and political ties, as Ukraine and its allies watch whether China will move to provide military support to Moscow.

— Jacob Pramuk